A Rule's Demise
by crimesolvingshipper
Summary: A movie night between Tony and Ziva. Takes place early season 11.


_~So I wrote a Tiva one-shot. Blame my Tumblr dash for it._

_It's basically another one of the "Ziva is leaving" ones. But I think you'll enjoy it :)_

_Please review and let me know what you think!~_

* * *

At exactly 8 o'clock, the knock on her door comes.

She stands up from the island in her kitchen, leaving the crossword puzzle and pen at rest, and goes to answer the door. She unlocks both the knob and the deadbolt, and swings it open.

He stands there, pizza box in on hand, and a small bag with a wine bottle sticking out of the top in the other. A smile appears on his face when he looks up and sees her. "So, how'd I do?"

She smiles back. "Right on time."

She takes a step back and he enters her apartment, heading for the kitchen counter.

"You see," he says, laying the box down and gently pulling the bottle of wine out if its bag, "I can be punctual when I want."

She laughs, moving to stand next to him, opening the box. "Only when there's food involved, Tony."

"Correction," he replies, digging through a drawer to get a corkscrew, "_Always _when there's food involved."

She reaches up into the cabinet and grabs two plates, then analyzing the pizza, deciding on her slice.

"So, I brought a few options for tonight," he says, pulling a few DVDs out of the bag. "Didn't know what you'd be feeling, so I brought classics of every genre. We got Brando, Indy, Bond, and Hitchcock." He flashes the cases in front of her, his face deepening into a mockingly serious pose. "Choose wisely, my ninja."

She smiles and slightly blushes at his use of the term, his endearment for her coming out more often now than it did before they had both quit their jobs at NCIS. She takes a slice of pizza, and ponders her movie choices. She's not the biggest movie buff, but she's sure she's seen all these movies a handful of times by now, so she chooses one at random.

"Let's look for the Ark of the Covenant, shall we?"

His smile returns. "Excellent decision! Gotta love a little whip action, huh?"

She laughs at his gesture, and grabs two wine classes out of another cabinet. He takes a few slices of pizza, she fills up the glasses, and they head to the couch. He goes to the DVD player, pops the movie in, and maneuvers his way to the menu to start it. As the first scene begins, he quickly hops over to the lights in the kitchen to dim them down, wanting the full movie-theater feel.

When he sits down next to her, she can't help but take a moment to look at him, excitement glowing in his eyes, before returning to the movie.

* * *

Just as Jones saves Marion from the burning bar, her eyes return to him. She's been forcing herself to watch the movie, but there's something she wants to say, something she needs to ask him, and in order to gather the courage to do so, she needs to pay attention to him.

"Tony," she begins.

"Hmm," he answers, eyes peeled on the scene.

"Why are you doing this?"

His head swivels towards her, his face compressing to a confused frown. "Doing what? Watching a movie? We do this all the time."

She reaches down to the coffee table in front of them for the remote, and pauses the movie.

"Tony," she says again.

"What?" His confusion remains.

"Tony, I got fired today. From NCIS." She takes a breath. "Permanently."

The confusion on his face dissipates, but the frown remains. "Ziva," he starts.

"I lost my job. I've been told I can never return to the environment and workplace that has meant a great deal to me for the past 8 years, that has given me so much. I can't even enter the building."

His eyes soften. "Well, look at it this way, at least they didn't throw you in prison." He snorts at his own joke.

"Tony, this is not funny," she retorts, anxiety slipping onto her features. "I don't know what I'm going to do. How I'm going to live my life. And then you suggest one of our movie nights, and act like nothing is wrong. I do not understand how you can sit here and act like nothing happened today."

He sighs. A faint smile appears on his face. "Ziva David," he says, and reaches over to take her hand in his, to her surprise, and squeezing it tight."You're right. You're unemployed. And you're pretty much only trained in killing and arresting." His smile grows and he shifts, turning his body towards her, his face directly in front of hers now. "But now you get a clean slate. A fresh start. You can do anything you want. Go anywhere you want. You can backpack across Europe. Own a flower shop. Open a ninja assassin training school for children."

She laughs lightly at his ridiculous recommendation, and relaxes her hand in his.

"Whatever you decide to do with your life, I can guarantee you will be marvelous."

She takes her free hand and cups his face instinctually, smoothing his cheek with her thumb, and he falls into her touch, eyes still enveloped in hers.

She gives him a small smile. "Thank you, Tony."

A moment between them erupts, and the feel of the air changes. Something should happen. Something _needs _to happen. They both feel it; the undeniable bond that's pulling at their heartstrings, begging for them to dive into whatever the feeling is.

But before anything can happen, Tony pulls away from her cheek and reaches back to the remote, jovial as always. "So, onwards then?"

She nods slightly, sad to see the moment pass, but obliges to his request.

As they continue the movie, their hands remain intertwined.

* * *

The movie ends.

It's getting late. He needs to report to work in the morning, and she, well….she has nothing planned.

He retrieves the DVD from her player, and insists on taking the dishes to the kitchen.

"Leave them in the sink," she yells out after him as she gets up off the couch. "I can clean them tomorrow, seeing as I have nothing planned."

He smirks and places them in the sink, and gathers up his bag of DVDs. He heads back to the living room where his shoes lay abandoned, and he bends down as he sits on a chair to tie them.

She looks down over him smiling.

"Thank you, again," she says. "It was…a very nice evening."

He rises and looks down to her, his signature DiNozzo smile out in full. "Well, pizza, wine and Indy-not a bad combination." He pauses, his smile growing wider. "The company wasn't so bad, too."

She laughs as she pushes him towards the door, and he obeys, walking in front. She opens the door to let him out, when he suddenly turns around and places his bag on the table besides the entrance.

"Oh," he tells her, "I forgot. There is one more thing that's good about not working at NCIS anymore."

Her eyes rise in amusement. "Really? And what is that?"

His smile falters, and his face becomes serious. He takes a breath.

Before she can react, one arm goes around her waist, pulling her to him, and she's caught in his gentle kiss. The shock quickly wears off, and she gets lost in his touch, wrapping her arms around his waist, as he pulls his other hand up to cup her face. The kiss deepens for a moment, but he pulls back suddenly, before anything more can take place. He rests his forehead against hers, and she leans on his, their heavy breathing beginning to return to normal pace. Both his hands come up to cup her face, and he leans up to kiss her forehead.

"No more Rule Number 12," he whispers into her hair, and pulls back.

She releases him, and a smile slowly creeps up onto her face. He smiles in return, and gives her a very cheesy wink as he grabs his bag and exits her apartment.

A doofy smile remains on her face, and she giggles quietly to herself, and thinks about the moment that just took place.

Leaving NCIS may not be that bad after all.


End file.
